Zimbabwe Has Enough Resources To Complete Insecticide Spraying in Districts With High Malaria Incidence, Health Official Says
Zimbabwe's National Malaria Control Program has enough resources available to complete insecticide spraying in districts with high malaria incidence, NMCP Manager Joseph Mberikunashe said recently at a workshop that aimed to encourage journalists to increase malaria education and awareness, Zimbabwe's Herald/AllAfrica.com reports.
Mberikunashe added that the insecticide program is "going on well" and that the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has said it should be completed by the end of the month. "Already 35 of the 45 high-incidence districts have been completed while in other areas our teams are still on the ground," Mberikunashe said. In addition, the government will continue to distribute insecticide-treated nets and will introduce the artemisinin-based combination therapy coartemether, Mberikunashe said.
Mberikunashe added that the media should "mobilize communities to advocate the support of malaria prevention and control" programs because they have a "wid[e] audience" that includes children and the general public. "Properly designed messages from the mass media contribute to the reduction of malaria deaths and suffering through improving the knowledge, demand for effective interventions and promoting their timely and appropriate use," he added.
According to the Herald/AllAfrica.com, between 12% and 30% of all outpatient visits in Zimbabwe are related to malaria (Herald/AllAfrica.com, 3/9).
